THE 

WORLD  SIGNIFICANCE 

OF  A 

JEWISH  STATE 

BY 

A.  A.  BERLE,  A.M.,  D.D. 


DS 
149 
.  B4 
1918 


> 


rv?  »  .? . :?  _ - _ . 

DS  149  . B4  1918 
Berle,  A.  A.  1866-1960. 

The  world  significance  of  a 
Jewish  state 


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THE  WORLD  SIGNIFICANCE 
OF  A  JEWISH  STATE 


THE 

WORLD  SIGNIFICANCE 

OF  A 

JEWISH  STAT 


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BY 


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A.  A.  BERLE,  A.M., 


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AUTHOR  OF  ‘CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  SOCIAL  RAGE, 

“THE  SCHOOL  IN  THE  HOME,”  “TEACHING  IN  THE  HOME,”  ETC. 


FORMER  PROFESSOR  OF  APPLIED  CHRISTIANITY  IN  TUFTS  COLLEGE 


NEW  YORK 

MITCHELL  KENNERLEY 
MCMXVIII 


COPYRIGHT  1918  BY 
MITCHELL  KENNERLEY 


PRINTED  IN  AMERICA 


LOUIS  D.  BRANDEIS 

ASSOCIATE  JUSTICE  UNITED  STATES  SUPREME  COURT 

EXEMPLAR  AND  LEADER  OF  THE  LIBERATING  INFLUENCE 
OF  THE  JEW  IN  AMERICAN  LIFE 

WITH  MEMORIES  OF  OUR  STRUGGLES  IN  THE  PUBLIC  SERVICE 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2018  with  funding  from 
Princeton  Theological  Seminary  Library 


https://archive.org/details/worldsignificancOOberl 


FOREWORD 


IT  is  many  years  since  the  author  of  this 
little  essay  became  interested  in  the  sub¬ 
ject  of  which  it  treats.  The  Zionist  move¬ 
ment,  as  such,  has  interest  chiefly  for  Jews. 
But  the  history  of  the  J ews  is  a  human  pos¬ 
session,  priceless  because  of  its  influence 
upon  the  moral  and  religious  conceptions  of 
men.  This  essay  does  not  treat  of  the  Zion¬ 
ist  movement,  as  such,  but  considers  the  pro¬ 
posed  Jewish  state  for  its  significance  to 
the  Christian  world. 

The  Jew  himself  is  a  social  factor  of  such 
importance  to  the  world  that  his  racial  and 
national  interests  are  world-interests  per  se; 
and  whatever  tends  to  unify  the  Jews,  espe¬ 
cially  religiously,  and  centre  their  thought 
and  action  in  a  solidarity,  religious  and  so¬ 
cial,  in  a  concrete  form  representative  of 
the  highest  and  finest  aspirations  of  the  race, 
is  a  sublime  subject  for  speculation.  And 
when  there  appears  on  the  horizon  a  possi- 

7 


8 


FOREWORD 


bility  that  this  speculative  centre  of  Jewish 
interests  may  become  a  practical  reality, 
we  may  well  take  note  of  it  for  the  sake  of 
the  whole  world.  That  is  what  this  essay 
attempts  to  do. 

The  present  writer  can  think  of  no  greater 
contribution  to  the  world’s  life  than  the  relig¬ 
ious  rehabilitation  and  unification  of  the 
Jews.  And  because  a  Jewish  state  looks 
like  the  best  instrument  to  this  end,  the  sub¬ 
ject  becomes  commanding.  I  look  to  the 
Christian  world  to  supplement,  with  gen¬ 
erous  enthusiasm,  this  national  aspiration  of 
devoted  J ews,  that  Americans  may  join  with 
Englishmen,  some  of  whose  leading  states¬ 
men  are  already  committed  to  the  plan,  in 
bringing  their  influence  to  bear  upon  our 
own  government,  toward  the  fulfilment  of 
so  worthy  an  international  end. 

A.  A.  B. 


Boston,  February,  1918. 


THE  WORLD  SIGNIFICANCE  OF 
A  JEWISH  STATE 


THE  outstanding  fact  about  the  great 
war  which  has  now  raged  throughout 
the  civilized  world  for  three  years  has  been 
the  element  of  surprise.  It  has  seemed  as 
though  nothing  had  developed  according  to 
the  previous  expectations  or  according  to 
previous  modes  of  reasoning.  The  most  as¬ 
tonishing  developments  have  succeeded  one 
another  with  a  swiftness  and  variety  which, 
if  we  had  read  of  them  before  the  war,  in 
some  imaginative  publication,  would  have 
caused  contemptuous  scepticism.  The  mo¬ 
bilization  of  the  brains  of  the  world,  for  the 
purpose  of  slaughter,  has  been  an  astound¬ 
ing  exhibit,  not  only  of  what  the  mobiliza¬ 
tion  of  the  brains  of  the  world  could  do,  but 
of  what  strange  and  uncanny  combinations 
have  resulted.  There  is  hardly  a  field  where 
the  weirdness  of  the  results  is  not  entirely 
equal  to  the  skill  and  ingenuity  which  pro¬ 
duced  them. 


9 


10 


THE  WORLD  SIGNIFICANCE 


This  is  seen,  for  example,  in  the  unusual 
combinations  of  nations  for  war,  quite  irre¬ 
spective  of  their  religious  interests  or  affili¬ 
ations.  For  years  civilization  has  protested 
against  the  rule  or  misrule  of  the  Turk.  Yet 
the  Turk  to-day  is  allied  with  the  Central 
Empires,  especially  under  the  hegemony  of 
that  Germany  which  we  have  hitherto  re¬ 
garded  as  the  safeguard  and  foundation  of 
efficient  and  stable  Protestantism  in  Europe. 
So,  on  the  other  side,  there  is  arrayed  a  con¬ 
geries  of  religions,  covering  almost  every¬ 
thing  from  Ultramontane  Roman  Catholi¬ 
cism  to  the  varieties  of  religion  in  India  and 
Japan.  Nothing  could  more  clearly  illus¬ 
trate  the  fact  that  to-day  religion  and  re¬ 
ligious  opinions  have  absolutely  nothing  to 
do  with  foreign  policy  or  the  alliances  of 
nations.  Yet  there  is  not  a  statesman  in 
Europe,  or  America  for  that  matter,  who 
can  venture  a  single  word  on  the  subject  of 
domestic  organized  religion  of  any  sort,  who 
would  not  at  that  moment  endanger  his  in¬ 
fluence  or  risk  his  political  life. 

That  school  of  observers  who  have  pro¬ 
fessed  to  see  a  “deep  religious  awakening” 


OF  A  JEWISH  STATE 


11 


going  on,  will  have  to  define  their  meaning 
more  clearly.  If  by  “deep  religious  awak¬ 
ening”  they  mean  increasing  seriousness  in 
the  world,  in  the  presence  of  facts  of  monu¬ 
mental  iniquity  and  stupidity,  colossal 
waste  and  slaughter,  heartrending  narra¬ 
tives  of  misery,  shame,  and  pain,  then 
indeed  there  has  been  a  “religious”  awaken¬ 
ing.  It  would  be  a  curious  world  that  did 
not  become  serious  in  the  presence  of  what 
we  have  witnessed  in  the  last  three  years. 
But  if  they  mean  that  any  distinction  of 
creed  or  belief  has  become  clearer,  more  de¬ 
cisive,  and  more  controlling  and  effective 
morally,  they  are  mistaken,  with  one  possi¬ 
ble  exception.  And  the  exception  is  that 
one  which  has  always  impressed  the  world, 
and  which  has  made  the  Jew  the  barometer 
of  civilization  at  all  times.  Neither  Prot¬ 
estantism  nor  Catholicism  has  shown  the 
slightest  power  to  control,  or  even  direct,  the 
moral  order  of  the  world.  Christianity  not 
only  could  not  control  the  outbreak  of  the 
war,  but  has  not  been  able  to  do  a  single 
thing  toward  mitigating  its  worst  effects, 
even  the  Red  Cross  having  become  now,  in 


12 


THE  WORLD  SIGNIFICANCE 


warring  countries,  a  military  adjunct  of  the 
armies. 

The  possible  exception  has  been  the  Jew. 
For  many  years  the  Jewish  national  ideal 
has  been  gaining  in  force  and  articulateness. 
To-day  it  is  within  the  region  of  practical 
politics,  and  may  become  a  reality  at  the 
close  of  the  war.  Looked  upon  by  many  as 
a  silly  or  idle  dream  for  years,  there  is  now 
something  resembling  a  strong  probability 
that  there  will  arise  in  Palestine  a  Jewish 
state  under  the  protectorate  of  the  great 
powers,  or  some  of  them,  which  will  have  a 
significance  to  the  world  far  beyond,  prob¬ 
ably,  what  even  its  most  ardent  advocates 
dream.  That  it  should  fire  the  imagination 
of  every  Jew  who  values  his  blood  and  tra¬ 
ditions  to  see  a  future  Land  of  Promise  ac¬ 
tually  erected,  with  Jerusalem  as  its  capital, 
should  go  without  saying.  It  is  one  of  the 
curious  facts  of  the  matter,  however,  that 
there  are  large  numbers  of  Jews  who  do 
not  feel  the  wonderful  inspiration  of  the 
theme.  But,  by  and  large,  it  may  be  said 
that  the  Zionist  movement  is  simply  re¬ 
garded  by  these  Jews  as  a  colonization 


OF  A  JEWISH  STATE 


13 


scheme,  which  decidedly  it  is  not,  though  it 
contemplates  filling  Palestine  with  Jews; 
and  they  have  not  informed  themselves  about 
the  vast  implications  of  the  programme.  But 
the  Jews  of  the  world  at  large  have  gained  in 
national  articulateness  and  cohesion,  and 
thereby  in  moral  force  and  power,  as  have  no 
other  religionists  in  the  world.  To  be  sure, 
their  local  interests,  like  those  of  the  rest  of 
the  world,  are  bound  up  in  the  results  of  the 
war.  But,  above  and  beyond  those  local 
interests,  distributed  among  the  nations  of 
the  world  at  war,  they  have  erected  into  the 
foreground  of  their  consciousness  another 
hope  and  ideal,  which  has  solidified,  stimu¬ 
lated,  and  animated  them  beyond  anything 
which  has  for  generations  stirred  the  Jew¬ 
ish  community  throughout  the  world,  name¬ 
ly,  the  hope  of  seeing  a  Jewish  state,  free, 
self-governing,  and  fulfilling  an  age-long 
desire  and  dream  of  the  race. 

We  may,  for  the  present,  leave  to  the 
Zionists,  and  the  Jews  as  a  whole,  the  dis¬ 
cussion  of  what  the  erection  of  such  a  state 
may  or  may  not  mean  to  them.  But  there 
is  another  significance  to  the  foundation  of 


14  THE  WORLD  SIGNIFICANCE 

such  a  state,  which  interests  the  rest  of  the 
world,  and  in  some  respects  hardly  less  than 
the  Jews  themselves.  Would  it  mean  any¬ 
thing,  or  nothing  in  particular,  to  the  rest 
of  the  world,  to  have  a  Jewish  social  state 
called  into  being  in  Palestine?  Would  it  be, 
to  the  rest  of  the  world,  just  one  more  “small 
state”  to  dicker  about,  in  the  councils  of  the 
great  powers?  Would  it  be  just  the  realiza¬ 
tion  of  the  dream  of  a  few  Jewish  enthusiasts 
and  fanatics,  to  be  looked  at  with  kindly 
tolerance  or  patronizing  friendly  inter¬ 
est?  It  is  likely  that  the  vast  body  of  Chris¬ 
tians  have  never  thought  about  this  matter 
at  all,  considering  it  purely  visionary,  and 
entirely  outside  the  bounds  of  practical  dis¬ 
cussion.  But,  supposing  it  did  come  within 
the  sphere  of  practical  disposition, — and  the 
present  writer  believes  that  it  has, — then 
what  is  the  significance  to  the  non- Jewish 
world  of  such  a  state,  and  what  would  its  es¬ 
tablishment  mean  to  Christianity  and  Chris¬ 
tian  ideas  and  ideals?  These  are  questions 
which  have  for  the  Gentile  world  both  a  polit¬ 
ical,  sentimental,  and  religious  significance. 
If  such  a  state  is  established,  it  will  be  a 


OF  A  JEWISH  STATE 


15 


unique  commonwealth, — one  which  admits  of 
political  possibilities  far  beyond  anything  of 
which  the  world  has  hitherto  dreamed,  and 
which  may  become  the  political  instructor  of 
the  entire  world.  It  will  be  socialized  by  its 
very  constitution  to  a  degree  which  would 
not  be  possible  in  any  other  state.  The  world 
will  not  be  able  to  ignore  the  results  which 
must  ultimately  flow  from  this  community, 
if  it  develops  normally  and  according  to  nat¬ 
ural  expectation.  Then  again,  it  will  be  in 
custody  and  control  of  the  land  and  places 
out  of  which  the  entire  Christian  religion  has 
emerged.  It  can  hardly  fail  to  have  at  least 
a  deep  sentimental  interest  to  the  Christian 
world  that  this  is  the  case.  The  entire  Chris¬ 
tian  church,  in  its  variety  of  branches,  as  it 
teaches  its  own  history  and  origins,  will  be 
compelled,  side  by  side  with  this  instruction, 
to  teach  the  history  and  development  of  the 
nascent  J ewish  state.  No  commonwealth  on 
earth  will  start  with  such  a  propaganda  for 
its  exploitation  in  world  thought,  or  with 
such  eager  and  minute  scrutiny,  by  millions 
of  people,  of  its  slightest  detail.  The  value 
of  this  to  such  a  state  can  only  be  conjee- 


16  THE  WORLD  SIGNIFICANCE 

tured.  But  that  it  will  give  impetus  to  it, 
that  it  will  aid  it  and  upbuild  it,  goes  without 
saying.  Think  what  it  would  mean  to  any 
enterprise  to  have  the  millions  of  Sunday- 
school  children  studying  about  it  every  Sun¬ 
day  in  the  year !  To  have  its  ideas  and  ideals 
expounded  in  thousands  of  Christian  pul¬ 
pits,  to  have  its  aims  and  practices  discussed 
from  a  thousand  different  angles !  Think  of 
the  possibilities  of  religious  instruction  con¬ 
tained  in  such  an  opportunity!  If  this 
House  of  Israel  is  reestablished  in  Pales¬ 
tine  again,  it  will  begin  with  an  opportunity 
of  world  instruction  in  the  religion  of  Israel 
which  has  never  been  vouchsafed  to  any 
other  cult  in  the  history  of  mankind!  One 
of  the  very  first  and  important  results  of  all 
this  will  be,  that  the  religion  of  Israel  will 
be  understood — and  what  may  not  that  mean 
both  for  Israel  and  for  Christendom — and 
therein  lies  a  possibility  of  modification  of 
the  religion  of  the  whole  world!  If  no  sin¬ 
gle  other  result  were  to  be  looked  for,  this 
itself  would  be  a  sufficient  reason  for  the  en¬ 
listment  of  all  Christendom  in  the  work  of 
securing  Palestine  for  the  Jews,  and  the 


OF  A  JEWISH  STATE 


17 


building  up  therein,  on  a  secure  foundation, 
a  Jewish  state.  But  this  is  but  a  mere 
glimpse  of  the  vast  possibilities  contained  in 
this  matter.  Enough,  however,  has  been  in¬ 
dicated  to  outline  the  discussion  which  fol¬ 
lows. 


I 


Let  us  then,  first,  ask  ourselves  what  the 
political  significance  of  a  Jewish  state  will 
be.  Those  who  have  not  made  the  matter 
one  of  special  study,  do  not  realize  the  eco¬ 
nomic  resources  for  self-dependence  of  Pal¬ 
estine;  and  it  is  not  the  purpose  to  discuss 
that  phase  of  the  matter  here,  except  to  state 
that  those  resources  are  there,  and  that,  once 
established,  there  is  no  reason  to  fear  that 
there  will  not  be  an  inflow  of  J ewish  settlers 
who  will  make  the  fullest  use  of  those  pos¬ 
sibilities.  In  addition  to  this,  it  is  unthink¬ 
able  that  the  vast  resources  of  the  Jews 
throughout  the  world  will  not  supply  all  the 
necessary  credits  and  assistance,  to  supply 
all  initial  needs,  till  the  period  of  stable  and 
self-sustaining  strength  is  reached.  For,  be 
it  understood,  the  Zionist  movement  does  not 
contemplate  that  every  Jew  everywhere  will 
immediately  pick  up  and  leave  his  present 
interests  and  occupation,  and  hasten  to  the 

18 


OF  A  JEWISH  STATE 


19 


Holy  Land!  But  the  fact  is  that  there  are 
vast  numbers  to  whom  such  a  change  of  base 
will  be  an  economic  advantage  of  sufficient 
promise  and  possibility  to  make  it  reason¬ 
ably  sure  that  population  will  not  be  want¬ 
ing.  And  for  the  needs  of  that  population, 
in  the  early  stages  of  its  expansion  and 
growth,  the  economic  resources  of  the  Jews 
of  the  world  will  undoubtedly  be  ready. 
That  matter  may  safely  be  left  where  the 
burden  will  rest. 

But  when  we  turn  to  the  political  possi¬ 
bilities,  especially  to  the  remainder  of  the 
world,  we  have  a  vista  opening  to  us  which 
ought  to  awaken  the  greatest  enthusiasm 
throughout  the  Christian  world.  Let  us  sup¬ 
pose  that  the  end  of  the  war  will  leave  the 
world  much  freer  than  it  has  ever  been  be¬ 
fore,  and  that  all  militarists,  of  every  type 
and  shade,  will  for  a  long  period  be  relegated 
to  the  rear.  The  poverty  of  nations,  and 
their  great  debts,  and  their  war-weariness 
may  well  have  that  result,  and  the  world  will 
be  safer  for  democracy,  whether  considered 
as  a  result  of  peace  negotiations,  or  merely 
as  an  economic  result  of  the  great  disaster. 


20 


THE  WORLD  SIGNIFICANCE 


But  there  will  still  remain  one  vast  con¬ 
trast,  full  of  consequences  to  the  world,  which 
apparently  this  war  is  not  appreciably  touch¬ 
ing  ;  and  that  is  the  contrast  and  competition 
between  the  Asiatic  and  the  European 
civilization.  J  apan,  as  the  most  ad¬ 
vanced  of  Asiatic  nations,  will  emerge  from 
the  present  war  stronger  than  she  has  ever 
been.  That  she  will  endeavor  to  strengthen 
that  hegemony,  may  be  laid  down  as  one  of 
the  truisms  of  political  developments  in  the 
future.  It  need  not  be  assumed  that  such 
an  ambition  on  the  part  of  Japan  is  neces¬ 
sarily  hostile  to  the  Western  world.  But  it 
would  ignore  the  tides  of  nature,  or  the  am¬ 
bitions  of  nations,  or  the  fundamental  facts 
of  national  growth  and  extension,  to  over¬ 
look  this  fact.  That  the  militarists  will  not 
permit  us  to  overlook  it  may  be  taken  for 
granted.  But  the  lovers  of  world  peace 
should  not  overlook  it  either.  A  powerful 
Japan,  grown  rich,  not  weakened  in  the 
present  war,  having  done  little  or  nothing 
on  the  side  of  her  allies,  and  looking  stead¬ 
ily,  serenely,  and  almost  solely  on  her  own 
interests  and  advancement,  will  endeavor  to 


OF  A  JEWISH  STATE 


21 


extend  her  influence  on  the  continent.  Ko¬ 
rea  is  already  gone.  Manchuria  is  a  rich 
prize,  almost  ready  to  fall  into  her  lap ;  the 
“peaceful  penetration”  of  China,  almost  as 
certain,  and  given  powerful  impulse  lately 
by  the  heedless  concession,  over  the  protest 
of  China  herself,  on  the  part  of  our  own 
government,  that  she  had  “special  inter¬ 
ests”  there.  What  do  all  these  things  por¬ 
tend?  At  their  worst,  an  ultimate  conflict 
between  the  Asiatic  and  the  European:  at 
their  best,  the  necessity  for  the  rest  of  the 
world  to  see  to  it  that  Japan  is  kept  in  order, 
by  some  peaceful  influence.  This  is  not 
an  exploitation  of  the  Asiatic  peril:  it  is 
merely  a  recognition  of  the  fundamental 
facts  of  national  development,  as  these  are 
outlined  to  us  by  population  growth,  by  eco¬ 
nomic  necessity,  and  by  national  ambition. 
We  need  not  attribute  the  worst  motives  to 
the  Japanese.  The  result  is  substantially  the 
same,  if  we  attribute  to  them  only  those  na¬ 
tional  aspirations  which  hitherto  we  have  re¬ 
garded  as  perfectly  justifiable  in  all  the 
nations  of  the  world.  But  when  the  full  recu¬ 
peration  of  the  world  has  taken  place  this 


22  THE  WORLD  SIGNIFICANCE 

is  what  we  shall  see:  another  economically 
powerful  and  self-sufficient  Asiatic  Ger¬ 
many  aspiring  to  control  all  Asia  and  pro¬ 
posing  Asiatic  union,  with  J apan  at  its  head! 

Let  us  even  imagine  China,  free  and 
strong  and  grown  powerful  through  inter¬ 
nal  improvement  and  development.  She  will 
still  be  an  Asiatic  power,  and  insofar  her  in¬ 
terests  will  be  identical  with  those  of  J  apan 
in  the  contrast  between  Asiatic  and  Euro¬ 
pean.  Dominated  by  Japan,  she  will  per¬ 
haps  present  us  such  a  spectacle  as  is  seen 
in  the  German  domination  of  the  Austro- 
Hungarian  Empire.  But,  whether  inde¬ 
pendently  strong,  or  allied  with  Japan,  the 
interest  of  both  nations  will  be  Asiatic.  The 
movement  for  an  independent  India  grows 
apace,  although  its  utterance  is  suppressed. 
Those  who  imagine  that  the  movement  for 
national  utterance  and  existence  in  India  is 
simply  a  feeble  desire  of  a  few  idealists,  do 
not  know  its  real  strength.  Military  occu¬ 
pation  and  domination  by  England  may  con¬ 
tinue  many  generations  still;  but  it  may 
safely  be  said  that,  with  the  safeguarding 
of  the  rights  of  small  nations,  and  the  growth 


OF  A  JEWISH  STATE 


28 


of  the  principle  of  nationality,  it  is  nothing 
less  than  foolish  to  leave  out  of  the  reckon¬ 
ing  the  movement  for  independence  in  India. 
Indeed,  why  should  not  India  aspire  to  such 
independence?  There  is  not  a  rational  rea¬ 
son  why  this  may  not  be  hoped  for  as  among 
the  fruits  of  the  great  war  for  the  democra¬ 
tizing  of  the  world.  But  an  independent  In¬ 
dia  will  also  be  an  Asiatic  power.  It  also 
may  be  dominated  by  J apanese  hegemony. 
But  whether  it  is,  or  is  not,  its  interests  will 
be  Asiatic  and  insofar  again  they  will  be 
the  same  as  those  of  J apan.  The  smallei 
states,  Persia  and  the  rest,  may  likewise  be 
included  in  this  category ;  in  a  word,  the  or¬ 
ganization  of  the  Asiatic  world  with  Japan, 
friendly  or  hostile,  at  the  head.  If  this  seems 
like  a  dream,  all  one  needs  to  do  is  to  study 
the  results  in  this  present  war  of  the  edu¬ 
cation  of  the  East,  partly  by  participation, 
partly  by  observation  of  the  methods  of  the 
Western  world.  To  imagine  that  the  silent 
East  is  not  observing,  with  great  intentness, 
and  with  a  view  to  its  own  emergence,  the 
astounding  phenomena  of  the  last  three 
years,  is  to  suppose  foolishness,  like  the  fool- 


24j  the  world  significance 

ishness  that  used  to  prevail  about  J apan,  in 
days  gone  by.  Let  it  never  be  forgotten 
that,  within  the  memory  of  men  not  yet  old, 
Japan  was  a  weak  and  hardly  considered  na¬ 
tion  alternately  bullied  and  patronized.  No¬ 
body  bullies  or  patronizes  Japan  to-day. 

Under  these  circumstances,  what  will  the 
world  need  most  ?  A  mediator  between  East 
and  West!  What  will  such  mediation  re¬ 
quire?  It  will  call  for  the  qualities  of  both 
East  and  West,  understanding  of  both  the 
Asiatic  and  the  European,  and  the  ability  to 
coordinate  the  two  in  a  conjugation  which 
will  make  for  peace  and  mutuality.  Just 
let  one  reflect  a  moment,  and  it  will  appear 
that  there  is  no  race  in  the  world  more  ca¬ 
pable  for  this  task  than  is  the  Jewish  race. 
The  Jew  has  become  both  Oriental  and  Oc¬ 
cidental.  His  interests  have  been  locally  na¬ 
tional  in  every  country  in  the  world.  He 
is  found  to-day  in  every  army  in  the  field! 
He  is  found  potentially  at  least  in  the  cabi¬ 
net  of  every  nation  at  war!  He  is  found  in 
the  councils  of  state  everywhere,  and  his 
voice  is  heard  in  every  economic  interest 
throughout  the  world!  Give  him  a  state, 


OF  A  JEWISH  STATE 


25 


through  which  he  can  speak  that  universal 
interest,  gifted  as  he  is,  by  understanding 
and  capacity  for  interpretation  of  world  in¬ 
terests,  through  both  the  Asiatic  and  the 
European  media,  and  you  have  erected  a 
voice  for  the  peace  and  order  of  the  world 
which  will  be  more  powerful  than  any 
League  of  Nations,  and  more  interpretive 
than  any  alliance.  Eor,  be  it  understood 
that  alliances  between  Asiatic  and  European 
nations  are  futile  foolishness,  no  matter  how 
viewed — they  can  rest  on  no  permanent  in¬ 
terest  in  the  expansion  of  the  Asiatic  conti¬ 
nent.  Asia  must  expand,  and  must  expand 
without  European  domination  and  exploita¬ 
tion.  Japan  is  already  free  and  powerful. 
China  must  become  free,  and,  if  free,  will  be¬ 
come  powerful.  India  will  become  free,  and, 
if  free,  will  become  powerful.  If  dominated 
by  Japan,  in  the  interest  of  Japanese  im¬ 
perialism,  the  combination  will  be  fraught 
with  danger  to  the  world;  but,  in  any  case, 
Asia,  free  and  developing,  will  present  a  prob¬ 
lem  for  understanding  and  interpretation 
for  which  special  capacity  and  racial  in¬ 
tuitions  will  be  a  first  necessity.  That  inter- 


26 


THE  WORLD  SIGNIFICANCE 


pretation  will  have  to  come,  to  be  persua¬ 
sive,  from  a  source  which  cannot  be  suspect¬ 
ed  of  selfish  interests.  It  can  come  from  no 
European  power.  It  can  come  from  no  Asi¬ 
atic  power.  It  can  come  from  a  Euro- Asi¬ 
atic  state  which  has  the  understanding  of 
both,  and  which  cannot  be  suspected  of  self¬ 
ish  interests.  Such  a  state  the  Jewish  State 
of  Palestine  would  undoubtedly  be. 

If  it  be  suggested  that  this  little  corner 
of  the  world  would  be  too  weak  and  unim¬ 
portant  to  exercise  such  a  vast  place  in  world 
history,  the  reply  is,  Look  what  a  place  in 
the  religion  of  the  world  that  same  little  cor¬ 
ner  of  the  world  has  already.  If  a  young 
Jewish  enthusiast  who  was  martyred  at  the 
age  of  thirty-three,  could  set  on  fire  the  im¬ 
agination  of  the  world,  and  make  his  name 
the  greatest  name  in  history,  and  do  it  with¬ 
out  an  army  or  a  navy,  or  any  of  the  acces¬ 
sories  of  world  power,  and  make  by  the 
power  of  words,  simple  words,  his  name  the 
Name  above  every  name,  what  may  we  not 
reasonably  expect  of  the  nation  which  pro¬ 
duced  that  world  figure,  restored  to  the  land 
of  its  dreams,  fired  again  with  its  ancient 


OF  A  JEWISH  STATE 


27 


traditions,  putting  into  active  life  and  be¬ 
ing  again  its  ancient  laws,  and  giving  to  the 
world  a  working  model  of  a  social  state  free 
from  the  entanglements  of  the  sordid  and 
disgraceful  game  of  diplomacy,  and  bring¬ 
ing  idealism  again  into  the  realm  of  world 
politics,  and  by  the  force  of  religious  devo¬ 
tion,  high  mentality,  and  social  unity,  en¬ 
forcing  it  upon  the  world!  We  are  seeing  a 
little  of  this  possibility,  by  the  action  of  the 
Russian  dreamers  who  have  upset  imperial¬ 
istic  ideas  in  Europe !  It  is  a  hope  and  a  vi¬ 
sion,  to  stir  the  dullest  blood  in  Christendom ! 
It  is  justified  by  the  calmest  survey  of  the 
'  brutalized  world  at  the  present  minute.  It 
is  justified  by  the  world  failures  of  states¬ 
manship  in  our  present  world  disaster.  A 
Jewish  state  would  be  a  “Hague”  which 
could,  and  which  would,  command  the  atten¬ 
tion  and  govern  the  thought  of  the  world. 

Such  a  state  would  have  instant  allies  in 
the  thought,  the  arts,  the  letters,  and  the  lit¬ 
erature  of  every  nation  in  the  world.  The 
Jew  not  in  Palestine  would  be  kept  for  the 
high  future  of  his  race,  by  seeing  in  opera¬ 
tion,  even  if  he  were  not  there  himself,  the 


28  THE  WORLD  SIGNIFICANCE 

ancient  ideals  of  his  fathers;  and  with  the 
renascence  of  the  Jewish  religion  through¬ 
out  the  world,  visualized  in  a  state  exempli¬ 
fying  those  ideals,  there  would  be  created  a 
body  of  opinion,  instantly,  throughout  the 
world,  which  might  well  bring  in,  and  keep 
forever,  a  universal  peace!  Who  will  be 
bold  enough  to  say  that  a  new  race  of  proph¬ 
ets,  like  Amos,  Hosea,  and  the  rest,  may 
not  lead  the  world  to  heights  of  thought  and 
action  for  world  unity  and  happiness  hith¬ 
erto  undreamed  of?  Why  should  all  this 
look  chimerical,  when  we  remember  what  has 
already  been  hinted, — that,  automatically, 
the  whole  Christian  as  well  as  the  whole  Jew¬ 
ish  world  would  study  minutely,  every  detail 
of  this  state,  as  soon  as  it  is  established? 
Of  course,  the  Jew  may  fail.  But  why 
should  he  fail?  He  never  has  failed,  when 
the  world  has  given  him  a  fair  chance.  And 
with  his  rationality,  and  his  prophetic  tradi¬ 
tion,  he  will  set  up  before  the  world  the  pro¬ 
phetic  ideal  of  righteousness,  in  a  state 
dominated  by  his  law  and  religion,  and  that 
religion  itself,  at  least,  a  part  of  the  neces¬ 
sary  background  of  Christendom  itself!  The 


OF  A  JEWISH  STATE 


29 


political  importance  of  such  a  state  to  the 
world  is  almost  impossible  of  exaggeration. 
It  is  far  from  being  the  mere  colonization 
scheme  that  many  persons  imagine.  In  fact 
it  may  be  the  new  Messianic  Kingdom  itself, 
appearing  on  the  horizon  of  world  politics 
and  betokening  the  time  when  the  human 
race  shall  indeed  beat  its  swords  into  plough¬ 
shares,  and  its  spears  into  pruning  hooks, 
and  learn  war  no  more!  One  need  not  be  a 
J ew  to  welcome  such  a  possibility.  One  only 
needs  to  be  broadly  and  sanely  human,  to 
see  here  one  of  those  new  providences  by 
which,  possibly,  through  seas  of  blood,  we 
have  at  length  been  led  to  the  new  world  of 
righteousness. 

But  Christendom,  least  of  all,  can  doubt 
such  a  possibility.  To  what  end  have  we 
read  the  prophets  these  many  centuries  ?  To 
what  end  have  we  admired  and  loved  that 
masterful  group  of  Isaiah,  Jeremiah,  Amos 
and  Hosea,  and  the  rest?  For  what  purpose 
have  we  embodied  their  superb  ethical  ideas 
into  the  commonplaces  of  the  Christian  re¬ 
ligion?  Here  they  will  become  the  realities 
of  a  social  state,  full-blooded  with  the  fire 


80  THE  WORLD  SIGNIFICANCE 

and  glory  of  the  race,  that  produced  them. 
Nothing  so  glorious  has  dawned  for  ages 
upon  the  horizon  of  the  practical  politics  of 
the  world.  It  does  not  need  that  we  assume 
that  the  Jewish  state  will  be  a  community 
of  angels.  We  know  it  will  not.  It  only  as¬ 
sumes  that  the  Jewish  life  throughout  the 
world  will  approximate  to  its  own  religious 
traditions. 


II 


Nor  can  there  be  any  doubt  that  the  es¬ 
tablishment  of  a  Jewish  state  will  have  great 
sentimental  results,  though  this  designation 
hardly  expresses  what  we  have  in  mind. 
Palestine  is  a  land  dear  to  the  heart  of  the 
whole  world.  The  events  which  have  taken 
place  there  are  of  interest  historically,  so¬ 
cially,  and  linguistically,  to  the  world  of 
scholarship  whether  of  history,  romance,  or 
literature.  One  needs  to  pause  but  a  mo¬ 
ment  and  remember  simply  the  list  of  bat¬ 
tles  fought  on  the  Plains  of  Esdraelon,  to 
recall  that  the  Assyrian,  Babylonian,  Per¬ 
sian,  Egyptian,  Greek,  and  Roman  Empires 
have  all  played  a  part  on  this  historic  soil. 
One  needs  but  to  recall  the  Eastern  Empire, 
the  Crusades,  the  Saracen,  and  follow  all  the 
way  down  to  Napoleon  and  even  the  present 
moment  to  feel  the  immense  historic  sweep 
which  is  gathered  in  this  little  fragment  of 
the  earth’s  surface.  There  is  probably  no 

31 


32  THE  WORLD  SIGNIFICANCE 

equal  area  anywhere  in  which  so  much  has 
been  enacted,  which  has  a  place  in  the 
thought  and  literature  of  the  world.  No 
place  probably,  upon  which  so  much  and 
such  varied  scholarship  has  been  expended, 
and  in  which  further  results  would  arouse 
world-wide  interest  and  enthusiasm!  Hith¬ 
erto,  and  especially  in  the  modern  world, 
Turkish  control  has  stopped  this  develop¬ 
ment,  and  held  up  a  stream  of  natural  evo¬ 
lution,  which  once  started  to  flowing  again 
would  have  the  greatest  sentimental,  scholas¬ 
tic,  and  ethical  value  to  the  world. 

It  is  also  entirely  within  the  possibilities 
that,  when  the  first  economic  struggles  are 
over,  and  the  first  stages  of  organization  and 
readjustment  have  been  passed, — for  the  or¬ 
ganization  and  making  of  such  a  state,  with 
the  diverse  elements  of  which  it  necessarily 
will  be  composed  at  the  outset,  will  itself  be 
a  work  of  great  difficulty,  and  calling  for  the 
greatest  possible  skill  in  statecraft,  social 
education,  and  leadership, — there  will  be  a 
revival  of  the  classical  Hebrew  language  and 
literature  since  national  development  almost 
always  follows  the  lines  of  language.  The 


OF  A  JEWISH  STATE 


33 


common  denominator,  linguistically,  of  the 
various  kinds  of  Jewish  elements  which  will 
be  gathered,  will  be  Hebrew,  and  a  new  blos¬ 
soming  of  the  Hebrew  language  will  be  a 
great  thing  for  the  world,  not  only  for  its 
own  sake,  and  for  the  better  interpretation 
of  the  Hebrew  scriptures,  but  hardly  less  for 
the  recovery  of  the  lost  elements  of  Semitic 
civilization.  We  are,  as  the  case  now  stands, 
only  on  the  brink  of  that  vast  lost  world. 
But  the  revival  of  Hebrew  culture  and  lan¬ 
guage,  under  the  segis  of  a  Hebrew  state, 
will  unquestionably  lead,  not  only  to  its 
wider  and  more  sympathetic  and  skilful 
study,  but  contributions  will  unquestionably 
be  made  which  cannot  but  be  full  of  impor¬ 
tant  results  to  scholarship  everywhere.  Here 
again  Christian  and  Hebrew  interests  will 
coincide,  and  world  interest  will  be  sponta¬ 
neous  and  enthusiastic.  Moreover,  such  a 
revival  will  have  in  it  elements,  which  will 
do  more  for  the  social  unification  of  the 
world  than  almost  any  other  single  interest, 
except  one  still  to  be  mentioned. 

A  Hebrew  state  must  almost  of  necessity 
be  governed  by  its  ancient  law.  That  law, 


34 


THE  WORLD  SIGNIFICANCE 


only  vaguely  understood,  and  of  only  very 
limited  application  in  world  history,  will 
have  then  a  full  exposition  and  a  thorough 
working-out  in  terms  of  modern  life.  There 
have  been  many  of  us,  who  for  many  years 
have  seen  in  the  Hebrew  laws  the  elements 
of  the  social  regeneration  of  the  world.  Cer¬ 
tainly  many  of  the  laws  relating  to  the  ordi¬ 
nary  life  and  relations  of  mankind,  as  laid 
down  in  the  ancient  Mosaic  law,  if  applied 
to  a  modern  city  block,  would  regenerate  it, 
root  and  branch.  It  would  have  command¬ 
ing  interest  to  the  entire  world,  to  see  a  state, 
albeit  a  small  one,  work  these  problems 
through,  and  especially  a  state  which  could, 
and  which  would,  call  to  its  aid  the  finest 
body,  collectively,  of  intellectual  force  and 
discrimination  which  the  world  knows.  All 
this  is  but  repeating  what  the  Christian 
world  has  been  saying  about  the  culture  of 
the  Hebrews,  as  revealed  in  their  own  sacred 
writings  for  many  centuries.  A  rationalized 
Hebrew  state,  founded  on  Hebrew  funda¬ 
mental  laws,  ethical,  social,  sanitary,  dietary, 
and  all  the  rest,  would  be  a  working  labora¬ 
tory  of  social  regeneration  which  would  ex- 


OF  A  JEWISH  STATE 


35 


cite  breathless  attention.  And  if,  as  may 
reasonably  be  expected,  such  a  state  should 
exhibit  phenomena,  in  the  conservation  of 
human  life,  in  the  development  of  human 
genius  and  power,  which  we  may  also  rea¬ 
sonably  expect  from  the  known  history  of 
the  Jews,  the  effect  upon  civilization  in  gen¬ 
eral  would  be  something  sublime. 

Here,  again,  we  shall  probably  be  con¬ 
fronted  with  the  stale  suggestion,  that  all 
this  is  mere  conjecture  and  fanciful  dream¬ 
ing.  But  why  should  it  be?  We  need  only 
to  sum  up  the  achievements  of  the  Jew,  un¬ 
der  the  untoward  conditions  of  his  life,  as  an 
exotic  in  Christian  civilization,  persecuted 
for  a  thousand  years,  and  not  beyond  the 
boundaries  of  anti-Semitic  hatred  and 
pursuit  even  yet!  Yet  if  his  wonderful  con¬ 
tributions  to  literature,  to  science,  to  philol¬ 
ogy,  to  music,  to  the  arts,  to  diplomacy,  be 
only  casually  tabulated,  there  is  created  a 
presumption,  that  even  on  the  mere  law  of 
averages,  there  is  a  fund  of  genius  among 
the  Jews  in  the  world,  which  has  not  been 
uncovered,  which  will  enrich  the  social  and 
spiritual  life  of  the  world  immeasurably! 


86 


THE  WORLD  SIGNIFICANCE 


And  as  stated  already,  one  does  not  have  to 
be  a  Jew,  to  feel  all  this!  One  does  not  have 
to  be  a  Jew  to  realize  and  appreciate  its 
value.  One  needs  only  to  understand,  and 
to  give  fair  and  just  recognition  to  those 
who  have  written  in  these  various  branches  of 
human  endeavor  such  glorious  pages  in  the 
world’s  story. 

Take  only  the  science  of  medicine.  It 
takes  no  violent  stretch  of  the  imagination 
to  see  this  modern  Jewish  state,  the  work¬ 
ing  model  of  the  finest  and  highest  physical 
development — far  surpassing  that  of  the 
Greeks  in  their  prime,  because  that  was 
based  only  upon  selfish  considerations  while 
this  will  have  to  rest  upon  moral  interests, 
which  make  the  least  of  the  brethren  a  mem¬ 
ber  of  the  national  family.  Such  a  state 
would  be  a  world  teacher,  par  excellence, 
and  one  can  imagine  no  finer  or  nobler  hope, 
for  the  most  gifted  members  of  the  race, 
than  that  they  should  cherish  as  a  part  of 
their  life-work  a  contribution  of  some  sort, 
personal  or  otherwise,  to  the  realization  of 
this  great  ideal.  We  have  seen  what  superb 
results  have  been  achieved  socially  by  the 


OF  A  JEWISH  STATE 


37 


great  foreign  missionary  movement  of  the 
Christian  church,  starting  as  it  did,  with  a 
mass  of  impossible  narrow  theological  con¬ 
ceptions,  and  ending  up  as  it  is  with  an  edu¬ 
cational  and  social  programme,  which  makes 
it  one  of  the  amazing  accomplishments  of 
humanity,  much  finer  in  temper  and  quality 
than  the  work  of  theological  Christianity  in 
the  home  lands. 

But  the  Jews  in  a  Palestinian  state  would 
not  be  missionaries  to  the  world,  but  mission¬ 
aries  to  each  other;  builders  of  an  ancient 
national  structure  of  ideas,  laws,  and  pre¬ 
cepts,  which,  made  the  basis  of  the  national 
life,  would  create  new  moral  types  for  the 
world’s  instruction  and  advancement.  That 
it  would  result  in  the  transformation  of  the 
Jewish  life  throughout  the  entire  world,  is 
almost  certain,  because  the  reaction  from  a 
state  which  was  distinctly  the  working  model 
of  Jewish  life  and  ideals  upon  the  scattered 
elements  of  the  nation  throughout  the  world, 
would  be  both  swift  and  decisive.  This, 
again,  would  have  an  equally  swift  and  de¬ 
cisive  result  in  the  nations  wherein  the  J ews 
are  in  considerable  numbers,  which  is  to  say, 


38 


THE  WORLD  SIGNIFICANCE 


almost  every  population-centre  in  the  world. 
W e  would  thus  see  the  entire  scientific,  artis¬ 
tic,  and  social  aims  of  the  Jewish  race  cen¬ 
tred  for  exemplification  in  the  new  Jewish 
state,  and  the  best  of  all  there  is  in  the  world, 
instantly  transferred  and  made  available 
there.  Here  would  be  a  state  which,  being 
at  once  a  social  unit,  and  a  racial  unit,  and  a 
religious  unit,  would  be  a  field  for  laboratory 
work,  such  as  has  never  before  existed!  All 
humanity  would  be  perforce  interested  in  the 
result,  and  whatever  was  thus  achieved, 
would  be  made  available  for  the  enrichment 
of  the  world’s  life. 

The  J ew  has  shown  himself  so  versatile  in 
collaboration  with  the  particular  nation  with 
which  his  lot  has  been  thrown,  that  it  is  an 
interesting  look  forward  to  conjecture  what 
his  art  will  be,  what  his  education  will  be, 
what  his  science  will  be,  when  it  is  trans¬ 
ferred  to  a  field  where  he  has  every  part  of 
it,  filled  with  the  sense  of  national  coopera¬ 
tion  and  national  glory.  That  the  contribu¬ 
tion  will  be  something  distinctive,  and 
possibly  something  greater  than  the  world 
has  yet  seen  is  not  unreasonable.  The  arrested 


OF  A  JEWISH  STATE 


39 


movement  of  Semitic  civilization  and  cul¬ 
ture  may  then  proceed  possibly  to  its  full  de¬ 
velopment,  only  it  will  be  the  more  glorious 
for  its  deferred  ripening,  and  will  bring  to 
it  elements  of  cosmopolitanism  which  were 
not  possible  hitherto.  What  would  we  not 
give  to  have  undisturbed  the  glories  of 
Greece!  But  here  we  shall  see  one  of  the 
oldest  races  of  history  literally  born  again. 
The  Gentile  world  cannot  be  indifferent  to 
such  a  chance  to  see  a  work,  which  will  bring 
glory  to  humanity  and  a  possible  release 
from  bondages  which  have  hitherto  kept  us 
in  the  eternal  fear  which  even  now  drenches 
the  world  with  blood,  and  fills  the  hearts  of 
men  with  terror.  The  Greece  of  Pericles 
restored  on  the  Acropolis  does  not  begin  to 
furnish  the  inspiration  that  is  aroused  by 
the  thought  of  Jerusalem  restored  and  glo¬ 
rious  again,  under  the  rule  of  her  own  sons 
and  resounding  once  more  with  the  songs  of 
David,  and  the  minstrels  of  the  noblest  re¬ 
ligious  poetry  that  ever  filled  the  heart  of 
man. 

Intimately  connected  with  this  vision  are 
certain  facts  which  are  peculiarly  favorable 


40  THE  WORLD  SIGNIFICANCE 

for  such  a  development  as  we  have  here  de¬ 
scribed.  The  purpose  to  build  up  a  J ewish 
state,  on  a  model  hitherto  unknown,  finds 
special  impetus,  in  the  consideration  that  it 
will  have  a  fair,  if  not  indeed  a  flying,  start 
toward  a  “social  commonwealth,”  quite  un¬ 
like  anything  yet  attempted.  P alestine  has, 
as  yet,  escaped  that  grasp  of  corporate  and 
exploiting  interest,  which  makes  social  de¬ 
velopment  difficult  and  often  impossible. 
There  are  no  vast  corporations,  no  immense 
“vested  interests”  to  be  placated  or  bought 
off;  there  is  the  virgin  undeveloped  territory, 
with  railways  yet  to  build,  and  connections 
yet  to  establish  with  neighboring  states  and 
lands,  all  of  which  form  an  unexampled 
opportunity  for  experiments  de  novo  in  state 
building.  Concessions  to  intending  build¬ 
ers  could  be  made  on  the  national  plan,  and 
automatically  agreeing  with  the  national 
interest  and  the  public  welfare.  The  in¬ 
dustrial  expansion,  therefore,  could  be 
without  those  weary  steps  toward  free¬ 
dom  which  all  other  industrial  civilizations 
have  had  to  undergo.  Almost  from  the  be¬ 
ginning,  land  and  industries,  public  re- 


OF  A  JEWISH  STATE 


41 


sources,  mineral  and  otherwise,  could  be  na¬ 
tionally  administered,  and  all  this  would 
make  a  most  novel  and  striking  page  in 
statecraft.  Once  more,  as  a  working  model 
for  vast  lands  as  yet  undeveloped,  in  Africa 
and  Asia,  the  influence  of  such  a  state  would 
be  very  great.  Moreover,  working  thus  in 
contrast  to  the  land-grabbing  policies  of 
hitherto  unrestrained  imperialism,  this 
would  be  a  great  service  to  the  nations  of  the 
East,  as  yet  unborn. 


Ill 


But  important  and  interesting  as  all  this 
undoubtedly  is,  there  is  a  phase  of  this  mat¬ 
ter  which  is  farther-reaching  in  its  world- 
significance  than  any  yet  mentioned.  This  is 
the  matter  of  religion.  Bishop  Lightfoot 
said  that  Christianity  appeared  “at  the  con¬ 
fluence  of  three  civilizations;  the  Roman 
gave  it  law,  the  Greek  gave  it  culture,  and 
the  Jew  gave  it  religion.”  This  is  a  true 
statement  of  the  case.  And  as  the  Jew’s 
greatest  contribution  to  humanity  has  been 
a  religious  contribution,  so  his  significance 
to  the  world  will  always  be  chiefly  religious. 
If  there  is  ever  a  synthesis  of  the  religions  of 
the  world,  the  Jew  will  be  the  maker  of  it, 
and  through  his  influence  and  work  it  will 
become  established !  There  is  nothing  about 
him  that  does  not  smack  of  his  religious  his¬ 
tory  and  his  natural  alliance  with  religious 
ideas.  Giving  the  world  monotheism,  as  he 
did,  he  has  been  the  natural  expounder  of 

42 


OF  A  JEWISH  STATE 


43 


fundamental  religion,  and  through  this,  of 
philosophy,  and  through  philosophy  an  in¬ 
evitable  figure  in  literature  and  the  arts. 
His  religious  foundation  made  these  things 
as  certain  as  the  tides. 

But  one  of  the  tragedies  of  the  dispersion 
of  the  Jews  has  been  the  loss  to  many  of 
them  of  their  religious  chart  and  compass. 
Nobody  can  have  anything  against  the  lib¬ 
eralizing  of  any  race  or  nation,  and  its  prop¬ 
er  coordination  with  the  remainder  of  the 
world’s  life.  But  the  loss  of  religion  to  the 
Jew  is  an  event  of  much  greater  importance 
than  the  loss  of  religion  to  a  descendant  of 
ancestors  of  the  natural  religions  of  the 
North.  Religious  genius  is  a  Jewish  nation¬ 
al  characteristic,  which  even  the  loss  of  its 
formal  power  and  expression,  in  many  cases, 
has  not  been  able  to  destroy.  A  Jew  is  a 
symbol  of  religion,  in  this  world  of  ours  or 
he  is  nothing!  Because,  being  a  Jew,  he  is 
a  religious  symbol;  failing  that,  he  becomes 
literally  a  floating  fragment,  a  derelict  men¬ 
ace  on  the  sea  of  humanity.  It  is  this  which 
makes  the  establishment  of  a  Jewish  state 


44 


THE  WORLD  SIGNIFICANCE 


an  event  of  the  greatest  importance  to  all 
the  world  beside. 

One  of  the  first  results  of  the  establish¬ 
ment  of  a  Jewish  state  will  be  the  rehabilita¬ 
tion  of  the  religion  of  Israel  throughout  the 
world.  This  is  an  end,  desirable  for  the  sake 
of  the  Jews  themselves,  but  hardly  less  de¬ 
sirable  for  the  rest  of  the  world.  A  race  so 
fertile,  so  capable,  so  fine  in  its  best  devel¬ 
opment,  carries  with  it  vast  capacities  for 
the  reverse  of  all  these  things,  when  shorn 
of  the  source  of  its  power.  Samson,  denuded 
of  his  crown  of  power,  a  mighty  giant  wast¬ 
ing  in  captivity,  is  not  more  pitiful  than  a 
son  of  Israel,  mighty  in  intellect,  superb  in 
cultural  skill  and  beauty,  without  the  moral 
force  and  attractiveness,  which  is  his  nat¬ 
ural  heritage.  Yet  the  dispersion  has 
wrought  this  in  many  cases.  Modern  com¬ 
mercialism  has  laid  its  heavy  hand  upon 
many  of  its  finest  and  best.  Power  without 
moral  responsibility,  and  without  conscience 
for  the  higher  and  nobler  interests  of 
humanity,  is  a  tragedy  for  any  race,  but  par¬ 
ticularly  for  one,  naturally  gifted  religious¬ 
ly,  as  the  J ew  is.  And  when  to  this  is  added 


OF  A  JEWISH  STATE 


45 


the  fact  that  he  cannot  look  about  him,  he 
cannot  utter  his  family  names,  he  cannot  eat 
his  food,  take  his  bath,  clothe  himself,  or 
indeed  move  a  step  in  the  ordinary  course  of 
his  life,  without  facing  statutes  and  princi¬ 
ples  which,  whatever  their  present  signifi¬ 
cance  may  be,  have  been  in  the  past  the  steps 
of  light  and  leading  of  his  ancestors,  his  mor¬ 
al  and  spiritual  isolation  is  pitiable  in  the 
extreme.  The  world  has  no  home  for  him, 
but  his  own  home.  He  cannot  turn  to  the 
right  or  to  the  left  without  being  faced  with 
the  duties  that  should  be  his,  and  must  either 
feel  the  joys  of  their  fulfilment  or  the' 
qualms  due  to  their  nonfulfilment. 

The  Social  Commonwealth  of  Israel  will 
change  all  this.  Not  in  a  moment,  to  be 
sure,  but  steadily  and  surely.  Israel  will 
find  itself  and  that  portion  of  it  which  has 
lost  the  way  will  hear  again  the  fresh  utter¬ 
ance  of  the  ancient  law,  “Hear,  O  Israel, 
will  see  before  its  eyes  the  blazing  beacons 
that  point  toward  the  solidarity  and  unity  of 
the  ancient  kindred.  This  will  be  a  wonderful 
thing  for  Israel,  but  it  will  be  not  less  won¬ 
derful  for  the  rest  of  the  world.  Under  the 


46  THE  WORLD  SIGNIFICANCE 

influence  of  the  religionizing  of  the  J ew  him¬ 
self,  there  will  also  come  an  idealizing  of  his 
purposes  which  will  be  one  of  the  most  serv¬ 
iceable  agencies  for  world  happiness  and  cul¬ 
ture  imaginable.  Under  its  influence  the  old 
antagonisms  will  disappear,  the  old  preju¬ 
dices  will  perish,  the  Jew  will  change,  and 
the  Gentile  will  see  him  once  more  in  great¬ 
ness  and  glory,  as  it  views  him  through  the 
words  and  deeds  of  his  greatest  prophets. 
The  stupidity  which,  in  one  and  the  same 
breath,  reverences  the  mighty  heroes  of 
righteousness  of  the  Hebrew  scriptures,  and 
then  visits  contumely,  ostracism,  and  other 
cruelties  upon  his  kinsmen,  will  be  manifest 
to  the  whole  world,  and  will  disappear  be¬ 
cause  the  sons  of  Israel  have  found  a  locus 
standi  in  the  world,  wherein  without  let  or 
hindrance  they  are  able  to  display,  in  their 
greatest  beauty  and  radiance,  those  national 
traditions  and  idealisms  which  have  made  the 
politics  of  the  Hebrew  prophets  an  integral 
part  of  the  Christian  religion.  What  will 
not  this  mean  for  the  moral  and  spiritual  life 
of  this  world,  torn  with  antagonisms,  and 
hitherto  without  a  sufficient  moral  cohesion 


OF  A  JEWISH  STATE 


47 


or  balance  to  keep  from  ruthless  slaughter, 
and  the  organization  of  nations  for  purposes 
of  death  and  destruction!  In  the  State  of 
Palestine,  Israel  will  become  a  prince  once 
more  and  his  capital  a  moral  centre  second 
to  none  on  earth.  Indeed,  because  of  the  ra¬ 
tionalism  of  the  Jew  and  his  mental  sanity, 
his  capital  may  well  become  the  clearing 
house  of  religious  ideas,  and  “nations  shall 
come  to  his  light  and  kings  to  the  brightness 
of  his  rising.  His  officers  shall  be  Peace 
and  his  exactors  Righteousness.  Violence 
shall  no  more  be  heard  in  his  land,  desola¬ 
tion  or  destruction  within  his  borders.5’ 
What  the  prophet,  thus  with  glowing  vision 
in  the  past,  foresaw,  that  is  now  within  the 
region  of  practical  political  possibility  if  a 
united  religious  impulse  of  the  Jews  of  the 
world  seeks  it.  And  not  they  alone  will  be 
the  beneficiaries  of  its  realization.  It  shall 
shed  its  glory  abroad  far  from  its  own  land 
and  Jerusalem  is  likely  to  become  the  Gold¬ 
en,  indeed,  to  which  the  nations  of  the  world 
may  repair  for  wisdom  and  guidance  in  that 
art  of  righteousness  which  Israel  through 
her  most  gifted  sons  has  taught  the  world. 


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